Matt Cutts

★★★ How can you spot and eliminate toxic links that threaten your site?

Google suggests downloading recent links to your site to identify potential issues. If suspected links cannot be removed, the Disavow Links tool can be used to ask Google to ignore them....

Aug 08, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ What links does Google consider unreliable and how can you identify them?

Google has started providing examples of links it does not consider reliable to assist webmasters in targeting and removing bad links....

Aug 08, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you identify and eliminate unnatural links that harm your SEO ranking?

If you receive a message indicating unnatural links, it often means that you are selling links that pass PageRank, which contravenes Google's quality guidelines. To resolve this issue, you must identi...

Aug 08, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How can you successfully submit a Google reconsideration request after a manual penalty for unnatural links?

After resolving the issue of unnatural links, it is advisable to submit a reconsideration request. In this request, thoroughly document the actions taken to resolve the problem and provide details abo...

Aug 08, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ What criteria does Google use to classify a site as 'Pure Spam'?

The 'Pure Spam' label is given when Google believes that any technically competent user would identify a site as spam. This includes practices such as the automatic generation of incomprehensible text...

Aug 08, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google truly penalize an entire site for localized spam?

Google generally takes measures against the entire site identified as 'Pure Spam' because it is rare that only a small part of a site is problematic while the rest is of good quality. This often happe...

Aug 08, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you recover a penalized expired domain marked as spam by Google?

If you have purchased a domain and find out it is marked as 'Pure Spam' due to the actions of the previous owner, you need to clean the site, including removing problematic content and harmful backlin...

Aug 08, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really connect your multi-country domains directly or use a country selector?

If you have domains registered in different countries, it makes sense to link them through a homepage or a country selector, rather than interconnecting them directly. Ensure that these links are in s...

Jul 17, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is Google really penalizing massive crosslinking between domains?

Google considers having a large number of linked domains as potentially spammy, especially if they are not clearly thematically related. It is advisable to avoid excessive crosslinking schemes unless ...

Jul 17, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why is your Disavow file constantly rejected by Google?

The Disavow file must be a simple text file containing only comments, domains (domain: format), or URLs. Word (.doc) or Excel files are rejected by Google's parser. An incorrectly formatted file leads...

Jun 10, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really disavow entire domains instead of individual URLs?

In a highly problematic link profile, it's better to use the domain: syntax to disavow the entire spam domain rather than meticulously selecting individual URLs. The correct syntax is domain:example.c...

Jun 10, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really clean your backlinks manually before using Disavow?

The Disavow tool is not a miracle solution. Google recommends manually removing as many bad links as possible directly from the web. This real cleaning effort demonstrates during the reconsideration r...

Jun 10, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really identify your true authors to boost your SEO?

Google continues to evaluate and improve the use of rel="author". The goal is to shift from an anonymous web to a web where the identity and reputation of authors are recognized, which helps combat sp...

Jun 05, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Algorithm Update vs Data Refresh: Do You Truly Know the Difference?

Google differentiates between algorithm updates (changes to signals and their weighting) and simple data refreshes (the same software program with new input data). This fundamental distinction is ofte...

Jun 03, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Were Panda and Penguin really designed for quality or to sell more ads?

The Panda and Penguin updates were not created to force websites to buy more ads. Panda even decreased Google's revenues according to their quarterly reports. The Search Quality team prioritizes user ...

Jun 03, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really stop building links to succeed in SEO?

Too many SEOs excessively focus on link building instead of thinking globally: creating something attractive and marketing it effectively. This focus on engines misses opportunities like social media ...

Jun 03, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google prohibit paid links from passing PageRank?

If a link is paid (money exchanged for placing the link), it should not pass PageRank or affect search engine rankings. This directive has been in place since at least 2005. Links should be treated as...

May 29, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you clearly disclose sponsored content without risking a Google penalty?

Sponsored content (advertorials, native advertising) must be subject to clear and visible disclosure. Users should not have to search through fine print to find out that content is paid. Google can ta...

May 29, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Could Google News ban your site for poorly labeled sponsored content?

Google News can not only remove undisclosed paid content but can also completely delete the publication from Google News if the disclosure of sponsored content is insufficient....

May 29, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available

★ Does the color of a shirt in a video really influence the SEO message being conveyed?

The color of the shirt worn by Matt Cutts in the videos generally has no relation to the SEO topic being discussed. The choice is often random, sometimes related to the context (for example, red for a...

May 22, 2013 ⚡ Analysis available